In this paper the influence of the heat treatment on the structural and optical properties of oxide single layer and multilayer transparent thin film structures of ITO/Au/ITO, AZO/Au/AZO, TiO2/Au/TiO2 and Bi2O3/Au/Bi2O3 type is studied. The single-layer oxides and respective multilayer structures have been deposited on glass substrates by successive DC magnetron sputtering using metallic targets ln:Sn, Zn:Al, Ti and Bi, in reactive (for the oxide films) or inert (for the metallic Au interlayer films) atmosphere. Good quality transparent conducting thin film structures have been obtained, with resistivity similar to 10(-4) Omega cm and transmittance similar to 75%. The wetting surface properties in function of time exposure at UV radiation (254 nm) have been also studied before and after heat treatment performed at 450 degrees C. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.